The good wife? Oh, give us a break! — Our would-be Mayor Carlos Danger has done it again. — After sitting for lengthy, sympathetic profiles with The New York Times magazine, New York and People — where he declared, “I feel like a different person” — serial online sexter Anthony Weiner and his wife …

Limp XXXcuse: Weiner blames rocky marriage for sext relapse — Anthony Weiner came up with an extraordinary excuse yesterday to explain why he went back to sexting after supposedly kicking the habit — he was suffering from marital woes. — In a startling e-mail letter sent to rally campaign supporters …

Justice Department to challenge states' voting rights laws — The Justice Department is preparing to take fresh legal action in a string of voting rights cases across the nation, U.S. officials said, part of a new attempt to blunt the impact of a Supreme Court ruling that the Obama administration …

Holder Wants Texas to Clear Voting Changes With the U.S. — WASHINGTON — Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced on Thursday that the Justice Department would ask a court to require Texas to get permission from the federal government before making voting changes in that state for the next decade.

House Defeats Effort to Rein In N.S.A. Data Gathering — WASHINGTON — A divided House defeated legislation Wednesday that would have blocked the National Security Agency from collecting vast amounts of phone records, handing the Obama administration a hard-fought victory in the first Congressional showdown …

Rand Paul in tough spot in 2014 Ky. Senate race — Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's campaign manager didn't hold back when he learned that his boss had a new GOP primary challenger. — “Matthew Griswold Bevin is not a Kentucky conservative, he is merely an East Coast con man,” …

McCain, McConnell heading for spell of rocky relations — The relationship between Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) is going to be awkward in the coming months. — McConnell finds himself increasingly constrained by both his new primary challenger …

Some Democrats Look to Push Party Away From Center — WASHINGTON — As President Obama made the case on Wednesday about how the American economy was improving, he went off script to underscore how significant the challenges were that remained. — “But — and here's the big but …

Why I'm Boycotting Russian Vodka — Buzzfeed has a photo essay—"36 Photos from Russia That Everyone Needs to See"—that will bring anyone who hasn't been paying attention to the situation in Russia up to speed. And Harvey Fierstein's opinion piece in Monday's NYT offers a great summary of Putin's escalating anti-gay pogrom:

Driver investigated after 78 killed in Spain train crash — (Reuters) - Police put the driver of a Spanish train under investigation on Thursday after at least 78 people died when it hit a sharp bend at speed, derailed and caught fire near the pilgrimage center of Santiago de Compostela, in one of Europe's worst rail disasters.

The Inequality President — The rich have done fine under Obamanomics, not so the middle class. — President Obama made his fourth or fifth, or maybe it's the seventh or eighth, pivot to the economy on Wednesday, and a revealing speech it was. We counted four mentions of “growth” but “inequality” got five.

Thank you, Ray Kelly — President Obama shouldn't nominate Ray Kelly to be secretary of homeland security. He should give the New York City police chief a stern talking to. He should invite him to examine his conscience and consider the error of his ways. Failing that, he should hold him up to national obloquy.

Tax writers promise 50 years of secrecy for senators' suggestions — Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and the panel's top Republican, Sen. Orrin Hatch (Utah), assured lawmakers that any submission they receive will be kept under lock and key by the committee and the National Archives until the end of 2064.

KTVU producers fired over Asiana pilots' fake names — KTVU-TV has dismissed at least three veteran producers over the on-air gaffe involving the fake names of those Asiana airline pilots that became an instant YouTube hit - and a major embarrassment to the station.